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A GREAT LUNCH AND PHOTO WITH NEIL GAIMAN

The incomparable Neil Gaiman met my husband and I for lunch in upstate New York. We were accompanied by his US editor Jennifer Brehl. Jennifer edits Neil's books for Harper Collins. Not only is she a wicked editor she's also a terrifically warm and funny person and I'm grateful she counts me as a friend.

Neil is teaching in upstate New York and has moved there for the time being. He picked the mexican restaurant for lunch. We sat and chatted for ages before he headed off to give a talk in Syracuse that evening.

This is the second time we've met up with Neil for a meal. He's such a generous individual. He was more than willing to let me take my picture with him holding my books and easily agreed to let me post the picture here and on my Facebook page. He's has a wealth of good suggestions for beginning writers and is unstinting in his encouragement.

As I mention in my acknowledgements page in Book 2, there have been several top level writers like Neil that have been very supportive to me over the years.

I'll be at "SCI FI on the ROCK", May 24/25 2014

Friday at 5 pm I'm giving a reading a having a chat. Saturday at 1 pm I'm giving a panel discussion on medical myths in science fiction. Sunday I'll be manning a booth for Breakwater (my publisher) for a few hours Please make sure you introduce yourself to me!

AWARD!!!!!

Edge of Time won a GOLD medal for best Independently published YA science Fiction in the USA!!!!I am totally gobsmacked.

WorldCon

What a blast! This is a great convention for those who are interested in Science fiction and a bit more. It's a big convention. This year there was nearly 4000 attendees, but don't let that frighten you. There are more than enough to do, hardly any crowds, and rarely not enough seats. Because it's one of the biggest, top writers make appearances and have signings. Very cool to rub elbows with the likes of George RR Martin, Patrick Rothfus, Robert Sawyer etc as well as agents, publishers and FANs of all descriptions.

You meet the most interesting people at Cons.

I attended a lot of the science stream talks. I guess I'm a geek. Cool info on the Large Hadron Collider, particle physics, dark matter and lots of other things I know nothing about.

The fun sessions for me were those on Doctor Who (best companion, most influential doctor) where the debates were loud, funny and bordering on heated. The Big Bang Theory Show panel was a hoot (standing room only) and very lively.

Greg Ketter from Dreamhaven books brought my books up to sell. I think he sold several, which was great (for both of us).

He placed my book, next to some others you might be familiar with.

There were more than enough autographing sessions and I think everyone who wanted to have a book signed, did. Before my turn, Melinda Snodgrass (writer extraordinaire) told me a funny story. Her first signing was at the same table as Steven King. He had a huge long line, she had no one. I was pretty sure I would have less than zero books to sign, but I was wrong. It wasn't a total washout. I signed FIVE books! (Okay, four were for friends, but still!) I sat next to Tara O'Shea (who won a HUGO that night - way to go Tara!) and enjoyed myself enormously. When I told George RR Martin about my signing the next day, he had a good laugh and related that he'd had much worse signings.

Susan M. MacDonald will be attending the SF convention in Toronto this November for a book launch and signing.

"It's the best kind of story - kids with troubles of their own suddenly find themselves the targets of assassins while even weirder people claim to be protecting them. And Susan M. MacDonald is the best kind of writer - she drops you into the middle of the action and makes you care what happens so you can hardly stand to put the book aside until you've finished. Best of all, it's her first book. That means she's got more novels as good as this one just waiting to be written."